Why it works: Lettuce and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,356 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel the tomatoes and place each on a lettuce leaf.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, mix the dry mustard, flour, sugar, beaten egg or yolks, vinegar, butter, and salt.
Serve
Top each tomato with two generous tablespoons of the dressing.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Lettuce + mustardtop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + lettucetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,655 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lettuce + flourtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,236 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,482 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Thickens the dressing as it sets and binds it into a creamy mixture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the dressing its sharp, tangy flavour.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the vinegar and mustard with sweetness.
- Flour
- Stabilises the dressing and helps keep it from separating.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the dressing rich and smooth.
The step that matters
Mixing the dressing with the egg. Egg proteins thicken when gently heated, so the dressing needs careful cooking to set. Adding the egg without control can leave it thin or curdled.
Flavor stand-ins for the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, mustard, flour, sugar, egg, vinegar, butter):
- Shallotabout as good a flavor fit
- Cucumberabout as good a flavor fit
- Horseradishabout as good a flavor fit
- Lettucethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, mustard, flour, sugar, egg, vinegar, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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